Punjab Cycle Yatra
Breaking Routines, Building Connections
Day Zero
Five years of carefully building Sanjhi Sikhiya involved working long hours designing processes and executing them while continuously reflecting and improving. As we grew, our weekly iteration cycles became monthly, quarterly and annual. As we grow bigger, much of our energy sustains the daily rhythm. Most of my time involves engaging with team members, partners and our wider SS community.
As our routines and processes stabilised, we also created silos. A more extensive and connected team means we spend more time with each other than outside the organisation. Our focus on operations comes at the cost of nurturing newer connections beyond our Ambassadors and Alumni. As we leap from being a start-up to a medium-sized organisation, we want to re-energise our connection with Punjab and pay attention to the emergent narratives shaping the ecosystem.
I am heading to a 7-day Cycle Yatra from Fatehgarh Sahib to Amritsar to make this happen. This Yatra is my way of breaking barriers by breaking my routines. The grand vision of Sanjhi Sikhiya is possible only by strengthing this connection with people, culture and the land. I wish to meet diverse worldviews, engage in dialogues and explore the depth of my being.
As I cycle for 350 km, I will also turn 35 next month. I invite you to support me in continuing to take the vision of Sanjhi Sikhiya forward. You can share our story in your circles and connect me with people interested in conversing with me.
For every km I cycle, I invite you to raise 10,000 Rs for Sanjhi Sikhiya. You can do this directly or through your circles. 100% of this amount will go towards our purpose of enabling quality education and youth leadership development in Punjab. Here is the link — https://bit.ly/CycleYatra
Day 1
On day 1, we travelled from Fatehgarh Sahib to Khanna. Our first visit of the day was at the primary school in Harbanspura. Pawanjot mam has been associated with Sanjhi Sikhiya since its inception. She joined as a teacher in 2015 and has grown to be a head teacher for the cluster of 11 regional schools. She was kind enough to host us in the school.
We interacted with the students, shared our story and answered their curious questions. It was our first interaction during this Yatra, and I must admit it helped us to be authentic. In their innocent ways, Children asked us tough questions like ‘Why do you do what we do?’, ‘How do you feel about this?’, ‘What happens when you get tired?’ and many more.
As much as we tried, I don’t think we were prepared for it. Yet, they sent us away with a lot of heartfelt wishes. We also danced together and discussed the importance of play for adults and children. It was hard to leave the school because they wouldn’t let us go!
We had a rather arduous stretch through Mandi Gobindgarh. Every road was jammed with trucks and harvesters. While there was no burning stubble, the pollution levels were hard to bear, especially when the physical effort made me conscious of my breathing.
While resting and reflecting, we asked ourselves, what do we want to learn, and what do we want to let go? All three of us are as concerned about the state of Punjab as much as we are invested in our personal development. We are carrying Yoga Mats even though we are pushing our physical limits daily, and our space on cycles is limited.
In our conversation, we had some profound insights. In our day-to-day lives, learning is so intentional that we are sometimes unaware of where it is coming from. As we are not on the road, we want nature to be our guide and, for a change, allow ourselves to be guided instead of trying to follow blue lines on Google Maps.
It was a moment of surrender to the unknown that made complete sense. If we don’t want to decide what to learn, could we at least decide what we want to let go? In my case, I decided to let go of the effort I put into everything. Doing the work is one level of engagement, but the constant worry and anxiety about the fundraising goal was quite unsettling.
I am anxious about attaching Cycle Yatra to the tangible goal of fundraising. If we don’t end up raising the amount, it will feel as a personal failure and may overshadow the rest of Yatra. I am trying not to keep checking the Give India and just focussing on the road.
After repairing Inder’s cycle at Khanna, we came to the village of Ikoha, where our gracious host is a friend from the farmers’ protests. In conversations with him, we learnt there were very few weddings in this Navratri season, which is usually a peak time for festivities. Even those who did celebrate kept it small and straightforward. In the last six months, around 25 girls from Ikoha who had barely finished high school have left for abroad. At the same time, there have been three deaths where the cause of death is recorded as drugs.
Everyone knows that many more families don’t want to acknowledge this publicly, fearing the shame around it. While there are young people like our host who work hard and find creative ways to substitute their farming income, they are all affected by this imbalance in unexpected ways. X says it was the first time since he started his sound business that he didn’t get any business during the festivities.
I have known this ground reality of Punjab for years now. Yet, seeing it first-hard and hearing ir directly from people does bring me in touch with the pathos of human suffering. As Inder, Gurpreet and I discussed the possible solutions with our host, all we could come up was the need to be able to receive and reciprocate love. We fail our young people when we try to control them too much or don’t let them express freely.
If you see this for the first time, I am on a 7-day cycle yatra from Fatehgarh Sahib to Amritsar. I intend to strengthen my connection and commitment towards Punjab. But I can’t do this alone. You can also join me and contribute towards primary education and youth development.
Day 1: Distance Covered — 35.5 km, Funding Goal — 3,55,000, Funds Raised — 52,600 | Support Sanjhi Sikhiya — https://bit.ly/CycleYatra
Day 2
On day 2, we travelled from Ikolaha in Khanna district to Jodha in Ludhiana District. We covered a total of 57 km while riding for 5 hours total. While we are riding we avoid highways entirely and rely on locals to tell us about village roads that may need to be marked on Google. There is both a down and an upside to it.
We spent around 3 km walking through a stretch of unpaved road while towing our cycles. But we also rode around 10 km beside the X canal on the outskirts of Ludhiana.
Riding for more than an hour on a walking track through dense trees and shrubs was the best part of the day. We emerged through the mini forest with a quietude we couldn’t quite explain to each other.
Discovering this path was a welcome change, especially after riding through endless fields harvested by a single person machining with noisy combine harvesters.
After a day of travel, our bodies have adjusted to the physical effort we put in. We weren’t as tired as we were yesterday. Maybe accepting the uncertainty of our ride and the willingness to face whatever comes is also a part of it. More than the ride, being seated in a constant position becomes challenging. That is why we try to stop after every hour to drink water and talk to people we meet on the way.
We are always looking at faces for stories, picking up signs of the changes we are seeing and once in a while when we spot a remnant of the old traditions, we pause to ruminate about it. Inder showed us a rare example of how young oxen are trained while the elder ones are still on the job. It was the only land we saw where animals were used, and harvesting was done manually. Gurpreet grew up working with his father on the farm, he feels connected with nature.
Whenever he sees a native tree or a native bird he points it to us. These are, of course, rare events. What is expected in all the conversations we are having with people we are meeting are the 15–20 young people who are leaving every month for abroad.
That is why the streets are empty of children, and rarely any playground has young people making good use of it. Seeing this first-hand is unsettling for me.
While on the road today, we also interacted with herders, farm labourers, and vendors. All these people have made Punjab their home and have been living here for the third generation. We couldn’t miss the irony that while Punjabi people have gone out searching for the promise of a foreign land, the ‘pravasis’, as they are called, have come here with similar intentions.
Maybe this is the most significant shift Punjab is going through. They are also embracing Sikhims and speak Punjabi fluently. This land, which has always assimilated diverse thoughts, continues to do so. Whoever has lived here learns to work hard, make the best of what is available and create abundance.
Our host on day two is the family of Akbar Ali Jodhan, a Punjabi folk singer whose songs you can still find on Spotify. It is a treat to listen to him in person, hear his stories and watch him perform even in his old age.
His son, a physiotherapist, gave us a much-needed relaxing treatment in his clinic while we prepared to meet the young people of Jodhan village the next day.
If you see this for the first time, I am on a 7-day cycle yatra from Fatehgarh Sahib to Amritsar.
I intend to strengthen my connection and commitment towards Punjab. But I can’t do this alone.
You can also join me and contribute towards primary education and youth development.
Day 2: Total Distance Covered — 92.5 km, Funding Goal — 9,50,000, Funds Raised — 1,02,100 | Support Sanjhi Sikhiya — https://bit.ly/CycleYatra
Day 3
On day 3, we travelled from Jodha in Ludhiana district to Bajwa Kalan in Jalandhar District. We covered 69.5 km, the longest we have ridden yet, a total of 6 hours. We reached our destination, tired but also with a sweet satisfaction.
There are long stretches where we admire the landscape we are moving through without talking to anybody, there is quiet, and we are more at ease inside and, therefore, out. I am feeling a shift, where we can now initiate conversation and touch the depth with more ease.
We are meeting more people curious about, us, the wanderers they see on the road. I also enjoy exchanging playful glances and high-fives with the children we meet.
In the first half, Inder, Gurpreet and I broke into spontaneous conversations about relationships with our parents and how it continues to affect us. We realised how being an adult means being able to see them as human beings and choice fully take on the role of a son/daughter. This conversation helped us understand the deeper wounds families in Punjab are pained with.
We talked about the overbuilt masculine pride and the wounded feminine and their manifestations in our society. An education system that doesn’t cultivate an ability to reflect and inhibits free expression continues to perpetuate this cycle.
As our conversations deepened, our connections also strengthened. It is reflected in how we decide which route to take, stop when even one person finds something interesting to connect with and continue to playfully push each other when we are tired.
This Cycle Yatra is turning out to be a meditation on slowness. In a world where everyone feels concerned about the urgent issues in Punjab and pushes for definite and time-bound results, I am meeting people who have accepted this as reality and are prepared for the eventuality with acceptance.
I see trends like immigration and drugs going strong for decades, and I also see a demographic shift in population happening right in front of me. Just as individuals like Inder, Gurpreet, and I take time to heal, our families and societies will also need time to deal with the massive shifts they are going through.
As I talked with my team members about the fast changes happening at the political level in Punjab and got pulled into the frustration, I stayed with it while continuing to be slow. I got a real-world lesson in humility, patience and resilience.
It was the second consecutive day we stopped at a Gurudwara for our afternoon meal and rest. Both the places belonged to different sects, yet we felt at home. There was no need to explain who we were and why we came. We could walk in, pray, have food, rest and leave without talking to anyone. No one felt suspicious, curious, concerned or particularly excited. Everyone who was there was for a purpose, and that purpose, in turn, was serving them well.
Knowing that such institutions exist and are going strong like this gives me the courage to take on the road and delve into the unknown. I know that I’ll not just be safe, but my needs will also be met. It is a massive sense of relief that, I think, is rarely found in other parts of the world. It also fills me with hope that as long as we keep such community places alive, they will continue to shelter and nourish everyone.
While I am on this reflective journey, the team at Sanjhi Sikhiya is working hard, focused on working with teachers, community and leaders. To help create the necessary conditions for the younger generation to thrive!
If you’d like to contribute to this effort please follow this link — https://bit.ly/CycleYatra
Day 3: Total Distance Covered — 162 km, Funding Goal — 16,20,000, Funds Raised — 1,09,600
Day 4
On day 4, we travelled from Balwa Kalan in Jalandhar district to Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district. We covered 37.5 km and rode for just around 3 hours. We halted at Seechewal village to meet Balbir Seechewal, who started the anti-river pollution drive in Punjab.
Last evening, we were staying at Inder’s home, where his cousin died of a drug overdose precisely a week ago. I stayed in the same room where he spent his last night. On our way, we heard stories from people about the ways the drug supply chain works, we talked directly to addicts to understand their mental state, but witnessing the effects so close became heavy for me.
We also wanted to visit the Kapurthala Central Jail to talk to inmates who have been held for drug-related crimes, but we didn’t get permission.
When we reached Seechewal, we were witness to a whole different environment. The progressive village has seen three generations of work by Balbir Seechwal and his precedents. There has been an active social movement to provide quality education and sports facilities to children and youth.
The narrative of linking spirituality and the environment is working wonders among the followers who are socially sensitive and politically aware. While we were conversing with the Eco-Baba, a group of nearly 25 teachers from Nabha came to greet him. Now that he is also a member of the Rajya Sabha, his influence and the message is spreading. The place is not devoid of its blind spots, but the way it is going strong is something to learn from.
We cycled till Sultanpur Lodhi, where Guru Nanak spent his younger days and got enlightenment. After the last cycle yatra, Gurdeep and I had come here during 550th-year celebrations to put up an exhibition of stories that we had gathered. We decided to stay here for the night. We have already covered 2/3rd of the distance and that has brought in some ease.
Inder and I broke into a conversation about Sikh Gurus who could challenge the oppressive systems and spread love simultaneously. They did it with so much ease. We wondered at our inability to ask tough questions without becoming tough ourselves.
Later in the evening, we observed a group of high school students exercising with tense bodies. I demonstrated the ways I have learnt from my Yoga training on how to release stress from the lower body while keeping it grounded. It was insightful to experience that we already have the answers to the questions we are seeking.
While I am on this reflective journey, the team at Sanjhi Sikhiya is working hard, focused on working with teachers, community and leaders. To help create the necessary conditions for the younger generation to thrive!
If you’d like to contribute to this effort please follow this link — https://bit.ly/CycleYatra
Day 4: Total Distance Covered — 199 km, Funding Goal — 19,90,000, Funds Raised — 1,12,700
Day 5
We started day five from Sultanpur Lodhi and travelled 58.5 km to Radha Soami Dera in the evening. As we crossed the Beas River into Amritsar district, we also entered the Majha region in Punjab.
The Yatra started in the Malwa region, crossed Doaba and is now in the last phase.
Our mornings are at ease, like home. I wake up early to reflect and write. I then meditate and do yoga before getting ready for the day. Posting on social media daily feels like a hassle. Even after the calm morning, the hour before we begin is always rushed, even though we don’t have anywhere in particular to get to. Every moment of the Yatra makes me more aware of my conditioning.
All three of us feel connected with nature. Many of our conversations over the last few days were about rivers, native birds and trees of Punjab. We become so excited when we spot a native species that now I can identify and name quite a few. We prefer routes next to rivers and canals and stop at every opportunity to immerse ourselves in the soothing presence of flowing water beside us.
Along the route, many people offer us water, tea and food. They ask us curious questions, share their wishes and send us off with smiles and blessings.
Some others on their cars and bikes slow down to pace up with us and talk to us. I am becoming so acquainted with Punjab that I can now guess where in Punjab a person is from by carefully listening to how they speak.
A particularly humbling moment yesterday for me was the langar we ate. It was being offered in celebration of Valmiki Jayanti. It was next to a highway and was being served literally on the street. As I shared the meal, I felt a shift within me and many differences were dissolved.
The noise, taste or anything external didn’t matter. It was just about being there, experiencing the togetherness of humanity and witnessing the overflowing joy and abundance in celebration.
Our evening host was a gracious 81-year-old TS Ananthu at Radha Swami. He completed his engineering in the first batch of IIT Madras, left his career, and has been leading a life based on Gandhian principles for nearly 50 years.
He is now based in Beas and dedicated to strengthening his inner work practice and synthesising his learnings. His youthful enthusiasm and child-like curiosity were something I have rarely seen.
We had to submit our electronics before we entered the Radha Soami Campus. Being away from screens for nearly 15 hours felt like a welcome break for our bodies. I couldn’t update my morning note, but I slept for nearly 10 hours. The meticulous arrangements and soothing silence at the campus added to our experience.
Experiencing so many ways of being in Punjab and immersing ourselves in it, even though briefly, has been an expansive exercise for all of us.
While I am on this reflective journey, the team at Sanjhi Sikhiya is working hard, focused on working with teachers, community and leaders. To help create the necessary conditions for the younger generation to thrive!
If you’d like to contribute to this effort please follow this link — https://bit.ly/CycleYatra
Day 5: Total Distance Covered — 257.5 km, Funding Goal — 25,75,000, Funds Raised — 1,27,700
Day 6
We started from Beas and cycled till Gumana in Gurdaspur district to spend some time with our friends. This detour also took us to to Chone village in Batala where we explored an old haveli in the village.
In the evening Inder taught Kabbadi to the children while Gurpreet and I interacted with young people there and documented their stories. We rode around 35 kms and cycled for 3 hours. We are now less than 50 Kms from our destination.
Going slow allows for more serendipitous connections within ourselves, with each other and with the landscape and people around. This connection feels immensely satisfying and we more energised at the end of the day even after exerting ourselves over long distances. We also developed greater stamina, increased our appetite and maybe also gained weight!
As partners on the journey, I also see a shift in how we are nudging and pushing each other’s limits in a friendly way. Mutual growth is being a reflective mirror to each other while delving deeper within ourselves. We all have our peculiarities that are comforting or irritating to people around.
Learning to share the effects we are having on each other sincerely yet lightly is a big thing I have learnt from my fellow yatris.
At Ghumana, we interacted with young students at the school started by Kawal and Pahul. They are both are part of our growing community of passionate educators in Punjab.
Their classrooms clearly reflected their perseverance and creativity. Students studied in mixed age groups, made their own schedule for the day and solved their problems together.
It was a refreshing change to witness a classroom where expressions were full of joy, empathy and curiosity.
At Chone, our next stop, we discovered a nearly 150 year old grand monument. While the building stood strong despite the neglect, the story of its origin and importance seem to have been lost.
We heard different accounts most of which were hard to believe for me. This is true in many other ways in Punjab. Partition has separated not just the land, it has also broken lineages and spoilt the legacy.
Even I have no imagination of my family history from pre-partition times because my grandparents could never recover from the loss and hence never shared their stories with me.
Oblivious of the historical factors, the haveli ground now is a vibrant place where children and young adults from nearby villages come to play sports every morning and evening. We couldn’t meet the coach but it was obvious that his leadership was having a significant impact in the region.
We have seen many such sports, music and readings initiatives which are being led informally by a local and kept alive by the participants themselves. As we left the ground late in the evening, everyone came together and wished us goodbyes. It was probably our best moment of the whole yatra.
While I am nearing the end of this exploration, I urge to continue supporting Sanjhi Sikhiya. 100% of your funds will go towards developing young people as leaders and transforming the primary education system.
If you’d like to contribute to this effort please follow this link — https://bit.ly/CycleYatra
Day 6: Total Distance Covered — 293 km, Funding Goal — 29,30,000, Funds Raised — 1,27,700
Day 7
On the last day, we started from Chone and Batala and covered nearly 50 km to reach Amritsar. We had started early at 8 and reached Golden Temple by 1. It was also our fastest ride. As we came closer to the destination, we felt stronger to keep going.
It was an emotional day. Being on the road for 7 days was full of self-exploration, understanding Punjab and connecting with people. At some point yesterday, all the historical trends and futuristic predictions that my mind was continuously analysing stopped making any sense.
It was just about being in the moment, feeling all the feelings, and letting go of everything else.
Starting the day at a time when children are going to school means you are going to meet a lot of smiling faces. Despite a government school within walking distance, many narrow village roads were jammed with private school buses.
When parents don’t feel empowered to challenge the teachers, they change the buildings where their children go. We keep creating infrastructure for more schools without trying to fix the problems in the learning process.
The fields that we saw over the last two days were also different. A lot more area was dedicated to growing vegetables, and there were many fruit orchards. It was a refreshing change after seeing endless stretches of rice cultivation everywhere. Potatoes and Peas were the most prominent crops.
At the Golden Temple, Gurjit, Tarundeep and Anurag from our Sanjhi Sikhiya community came to welcome us. The joy of meeting familiar friends after a week of connecting with new people is like a homecoming. There was an excitement of completing another Yatra as well as immense gratitude for all that we received on the way.
As we meditated together, I was filled with a sense of serenity. We had worked hard to reach here, but it felt effortless. For a few moments, I could feel the journey and the destination to be one.
We loaded our cycles on a bus to Chandigarh and reached our homes post-dinner time. Completing this Yatra felt like a process of renewal. I realise that our life is much like the Yatra we undertook. We don’t know much, yet we hide behind the comforts of certainty and pretence of knowing.
I came back with greater awareness and a stronger intention about the life I want to live and the world I wish to create.
On the Yatra, we used to end every interaction with ‘Rab Rakha’ — loosely translated as ‘May God Take Care’.
When Inder, Gurpreet and I parted, we said the same to each other. Still immersed in immense gratitude, I repeated the same to myself as well.
Day 7: Total Distance Covered — 340 km, Funding Goal — 34,00,000, Funds Raised — 1,30,200
If you would to support our efforts at Sanjhi Sikhiya, you can donate here — bit.ly/CycleYatra
